Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Dec 12, 2018

Critic90/100

Agreement—

In a cynical era where nostalgia is pumped for all its worth with endless soulless remasters, Katamari Damacy Reroll serves up an engaging and rewarding game that hasn't let any of its original charm or personality be lost in the transition from one platform to another. With support for gyro controls and multiplayer – not to mention a degree of performance that sees it run smoothly in both handheld and docked mode – this Switch edition is easily the best way to play it outside of blowing the dust off your old PS2.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Dec 11, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

While reminding us just how much we'd love to see FTL on Switch, Everspace manages to carve out an impressive identity for itself. With gratifying space combat, an addictive ‘rogue-lite' core loop and even some light, entertaining writing along the way, it performs admirably – if not flawlessly – on Nintendo's console. Overall, we had a hell of a time with it and this port does a cracking job of preserving the full experience on a handheld. If any of this sounds remotely enticing, we'd heartily recommend investigation.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Dec 10, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures is both incredibly enjoyable and considerably infuriating. There's just enough of that classic magic in there to make the design and management of a theme park a consistently rewarding experience, and using permits and research to space out your access to the good stuff makes this a genuinely fun time sink. However, the level of automation that's migrated over from the mobile iteration really does negatively impact this Switch port, and issues with overall performance place a big caveat around its neck. While it's not a total disaster, RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures does leave you wanting a little more – especially if you're a seasoned fan of the long-running series.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Dec 10, 2018

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Rather than building on the solid foundations its predecessor set last year, Gear.Club Unlimited 2 slams into reverse gear and delivers racing gameplay that feels significantly more laggy and sluggish than the original. With no attempt made to cut its remaining mobile roots and more performance issues than a drunken West End actor, we just can't recommend dropping a whopping £54.99 on this unoptimised, clunky effort.

Nintendo Life

Jon Mundy·Dec 9, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

A dazzling, thrilling action-platformer with a potent cocktail of combat and platforming components, all set in one of the most appealing game worlds around. It's not a massive progression from the original, and its sheer relentlessness can prove tiresome, but Guacamelee! 2 is a real celebration of a sequel.

Nintendo Life

Dave Frear·Dec 7, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Granted, the Switch certainly isn't short of shooters (or even decent shooters, for that matter), but Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Stellar Climax nevertheless is worth a look; it's an incredibly fun and action-packed game that you can enjoy with up to three friends and boasts plenty of options that can be tweaked to make the experience as easy or challenging as you'd like. Throw in some engaging extra modes, great presentation and a healthy dose of self-aware humour and you've got a package that will keep you entertained for quite some time. Fans of the genre should definitely check this one out.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Dec 7, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

This War of Mine remains an affecting survival experience on Switch and this edition is a comprehensive package. A couple of minor technical issues do little to diminish its power and, although the lack of touch controls is odd, sleep mode is a winner for squeezing in a few days as-and-when you can. Switch arguably helps make this downbeat game as accessible as possible, though there's little point in double-dipping if you've tried it elsewhere. It deserves to be played in whatever form you can find it, though, and is therefore a very welcome addition to Switch's diverse catalogue.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Dec 6, 2018

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Ark: Survival Evolved, in its current state, is not the best port to grace Nintendo Switch. It is, however, a proper MMORPG survival game with a deep and rewarding crafting system and the potential for some brilliant online cooperation with your fellow survivors. There's a palpable thrill to moving from simple stone tools to more advanced weaponry as you begin to master the crafting cycle, an experience no other game on Switch can offer right now. But its myriad technical problems – ranging from texture pop-in to substantial performance slowdown – mean you really are better off playing Ark on a different platform for the time being. Patches could solve some of these problems over time, but we can't help but feel this ambitious title will never run at an acceptable level on Nintendo's hybrid platform.

Nintendo Life

Alex Olney·Dec 6, 2018

Critic100/100

Agreement—

We’re not sure how you could make a more robust or pleasing Smash game. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate truly is the ultimate instalment in the series, and it makes you wonder where Sakurai can possibly take this franchise next.

Nintendo Life

Jon Mundy·Dec 5, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

This is another dauntingly deep yet strangely conflicted sports simulator from the undisputed champions of the form. Football Manager Touch 2019 is the series at its peak, but it remains a sub-optimal Switch experience; if you can play it on any other platform then we'd recommend you do so, but if Nintendo's machine is your only option, then, by all means, give it a spin – just be prepared to find yourself occasionally frustrated by the many awkward concessions that have been made to get things running on the hybrid console.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Dec 5, 2018

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Monster Boy is a tremendous accomplishment. It's a gorgeous looking game with a fantastic soundtrack and does its spiritual predecessors proud by nailing the Wonder Boy mechanics while still offering something that will appeal to modern audiences. As long as you can appreciate that it's still very much an old-school game at heart and you're going to get some 8-bit era platforming trickiness as a result, you're going to thoroughly enjoy playing through this adventure for the 12-15 hours it'll take you to beat it. It may not be Wonder Boy by name, but it's definitely wonderful by nature.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Dec 4, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Toast Time is the kind of game that feels like it could've been something truly special if it spent a little more time in the oven; the core gameplay of toast blasting madness is fantastic fun, but the sparse offering of content makes this a game that doesn't take too long to chew through.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Dec 4, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Toki is an absolutely beautiful remaster, with fantastic hand-drawn backgrounds, brilliant character animation and impressive boss designs. Aesthetics only go so far, though, and while the game itself is fun to play (if a little cheap with its deaths at times) the reality is it's an arcade game at heart. As such, its six stages won't last you too long, especially if you're the target audience – someone who remembers Toki back in the day and has continued to play platformers for the three decades that followed – and once it's done there's no real replay value.

Nintendo Life

Will Freeman·Dec 3, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Rival Megagun may fall short of the standards set by genre masterworks like Cave's Ketsui, Seibu Kaihatsu's Raiden Fighters Jet or Raizing's Battle Garegga. But those are some of the finest pieces of game design of all time, and failing to meet their lofty standards doesn't stop Spacewave's creation being a tremendously fun and rather distinct shmup that really does offer something fresh, and serves as a great demonstration of the Switch's multiplayer prowess in the process.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Dec 3, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

There's a good chance you've probably never heard of NAIRI: Tower of Shirin, but that doesn't mean this hidden gem should pass you buy. Sure, it doesn't have the pedigree of a Double Fine game or the licence exposure of something from TellTale's back catalogue, but it still offers up a safe and engaging world full of quirky characters, challenging puzzles and all the screen-tapping backgrounds you could ask for. It's no great reimagining of the genre, but it's still a curio worth playing nonetheless.